This is the 4th in a series of blog posts where Certified Athletic Therapist - Alex Barton and Certified Craniosacral Therapist - Liw Bringelson discuss concussions, and explain what we can do to help before and after your concussion.

Why Craniosacral Therapy?

Healing from a concussion is an important and complex process. Craniosacral therapy (CST) can help in both general and localized ways.

As mentioned in the previous blog post, at the general level CST allows the body and nervous system, which has been shaken up by the impact and trauma of the injury, to “re-set”. This reset allows the body to heal, from a more balanced place. For example, if you’ve had a significant injury such as a broken bone, the first thing to do is to set the bone, so that it can heal in the correct position. In the case of a concussion, there isn’t a broken bone, but the principle of restoring the body and nervous system to “balance” still applies. It is important to allow all systems in the body to get back into pre-injury position to allow the healing to take place.

At the localized level, Craniosacral Therapy can support your body to release tension in the soft tissues which can then allow the bones in your skull (aka cranium) to realign. For example, if you’ve fallen backwards and hit your head on the ice -- not only has your brain experienced a collision inside your skull, but your parietal bones may have jammed into the frontal bone.

Jamming the bones into each other creates a restriction in the frontal suture, which means the bones are not able to move in a healthy manner with relationship to each other. CST can release this restriction, and allow the bones to move better. When the bones of the skull are able to articulate, the circulation of cerebrospinal fluid can happen more efficiently, thereby facilitating the healing process of your brain within the skull.

This is the 3rd in a series of blog posts where Certified Athletic Therapist - Alex Barton and Certified Craniosacral Therapist - Liw Bringelson discuss concussions, and explain what we can do to help before and after your concussion.

If you have experienced a significant blow to the head, take it seriously! Our bodies are complex systems, and while we may be able to “shake off” an injury, there can be long-term, significant effects. If you have “bumped your head”, “had your bell rung”, “are seeing stars” then you may have experienced a head injury. As we discussed in the first post of this series, there are many types of symptoms that may happen with a concussion.The first thing to do after experiencing a head injury is to seek out a professional opinion.

As a Certified Athletic Therapist (Alex Barton), one of the most important parts of my job is in assisting players to identify concussion symptoms. Based on what I see, from the sidelines, I can help the athlete and others around them to make informed decisions about continued playing and treatment.

The first thing to do after experiencing a head injury is to see your doctor for a full diagnosis. Depending on your symptoms, your doctor may suggest changing your daily routine to support brain healing and recovery from your injury. For example, one challenge in today’s world is to avoid screens (phones, computers, TVs). There are therapies and protocols which may assist in supporting you and your brain to heal.

After receiving the diagnosis, you can work with the Synergy Health and Wellness team to determine appropriate treatment and rehabilitation plan to return to regular daily activities and get back to competition.

As discussed in the last blog (click here), Alex Barton, Athletic Therapist has completed specialized training through the The Shift Concussion Management Program (SCMP) which allows her to properly assess concussions, interpret results and rehabilitate. This testing protocol helps to better diagnose the concussion so we can understand what the problem is. If we can better understand the problem, we are able to recommend more specific treatment.

For example, if you were diagnosed with a knee injury, a generic knee strengthening program would allow you to get better, but it would probably take longer. Alternatively, if we are able to more specifically identify the injury, such as a 2nd degree sprain of the medial collateral ligament (MCL), then we would be able to give you a more specific rehabilitation program. That is what ImPACT and SCMP allows Alex to do!

In addition to a more specific rehabilitation program, we can support your brain and central nervous system to rebalance and repair itself through Craniosacral Therapy. Liw Bringelson provides this form of light-touch bodywork, which supports your central nervous system to “re-set” and then the healing can progress from a state of balance.

The combination of Craniosacral Therapy and Athletic Therapy provides the best environment for you and your brain to heal from a concussion or traumatic brain injury.

So You Think You Have a Concussion - The Importance of Baseline Testing

This is the second installment in a series of blog posts where Certified Athletic Therapist - Alex Barton and Certified Craniosacral Therapist - Liw Bringelson discuss concussions, and explain what we can do to help before and after your concussion.

As discussed in the previous Blog (click here), concussions are difficult to diagnose and are diagnosed through symptoms. Hence, having a snapshot of the brain’s ability to think and function, before an injury is vital. You can do this by having your child or yourself participate in a baseline test before engaging in physical activity or sports.

If you or your child is diagnosed with a concussion, the testing can be repeated, and the post-injury results can be compared with the baseline, to support rehabilitation and return to activities of daily living and play.

What is Baseline testing?

A baseline test is a test that is taken before any concussion, activity or treatment has occurred. Baseline testing data is valuable in determining the athlete’s’ pre-injury (normal) level of cognitive functioning. It is a tool in our toolbox which we feel is part of an effective concussion management program because it measures what we can’t see – cognitive (brain) function.

Are you or your children engaged in contact sports? Many sports have opportunities for significant contact with other players or parts of the field of play which may result in a potential traumatic brain injury (TBI), like a concussion. For example:

Hockey - Other players, sticks, pucks, boards, ice;

Football - Other players, helmets, ground;

Alpine skiing - Other skiers, trees, rocks, ice;

Equestrian sports - Horses, jumps, ground.

Remember that the faster an athlete is moving, the greater the force transferred inside the skull when it comes to an abrupt stop due to a collision.

Alex Barton, Athletic Therapist, has completed specialized training through the The Shift Concussion Management Program (SCMP) which allows her to properly assess concussions, interpret results and rehabilitate. The SCMP uses ImPACT (https://www.impacttest.com/) as part of the testing after an individual sustains a concussion. This is a type of neurocognitive testing done using a computer to test word memory, visual memory, verbal memory, visual motor speed and reaction time. This testing suite helps to record neurocognitive function.

At Synergy Health and Wellness, Alex can also administer a full battery of tests that include visual coordination, balance and vestibular testing.

Through a series of blog posts, Certified Athletic Therapist - Alex Barton and Certified Cranial Sacral Therapist - Liw Bringelson will describe concussions, and explain what to do when you or your child is affected by one.

WHAT IS A CONCUSSION?

An Athletic Therapist’s Perspective - Alex Barton

Being an Athletic Therapist, I deal with concussions on a regular basis. I am the first one out on the field to help the athlete. From there I determine based on a symptom list and using the SCAT test if the athlete can return to play or not. I work on the sidelines with high level athletes and coaches where the word ‘concussion’ is still considered taboo. I have heard coaches say, “Oh, he’s just seeing stars” or, “He just had his bell rung. He’s fine.” Some of them feel concussions are considered a sign of being weak, because “...back in their day they didn’t get them…” but concussions have been around since ‘back in their day’, there just wasn’t the research or knowledge that there is today.

New light is being shined on the subject, from many directions, including:

a Hollywood movie, Concussion (directed by Will Smith);

NHL news of players, such as Sidney Crosby suffering, and being sidelined by, multiple concussions;

stories about the impact of head injuries to athletes in high school sports.

Concussions are now an everyday topic. For example, Dr. Bennet Omalu (whose story was the basis for Will Smith’s movie) received a lot of attention for research and the discovery of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). He identified patterns of injury in the brains of retired NFL players. After they retired, they reported experiencing symptoms such as clinical depression, severe psychiatric problems, memory loss, personality changes and aggressive behavior. After they died, Dr. Omalu attributed these significant changes in cognitive and social behaviour to the multiple concussions each suffered throughout their careers. This emerging information has raised the bar on the importance of preventing, identifying and treating concussions in athletes, from youth to professional competitors.

What IS a concussion?

A concussion is a traumatic brain injury (TBI) that jars or shakes the brain inside the skull. This injury can be caused by a direct, or indirect blow to the head, face or neck. The impact of the brain within the skull causes a series of complex pathological processes and chemical changes in the brain. These changes can cause depletion of energy in the system, among other symptoms.

Concussions are “invisible injuries” as they are not observable from the outside of the body. Furthermore, this type of injury cannot always be seen with diagnostic imaging and is normally diagnosed using the following list of symptoms:

Headache

Dizziness

Neck pain

Nausea or Vomiting

Loss of balance

Poor coordination

Trouble focusing on objects or words

Poor concentration

Feeling “foggy”

Confusion

Amnesia, or poor memory

“Flashing lights”

Blurred or double vision

Seeing “stars”

Irritability or emotional changes

Ringing in ears

Slow to follow direction

Decreased playing ability

Easily distracted

Vacant stare

Drowsiness/fatigue

Difficulty falling asleep

Feeling “off” or not like oneself

These symptoms can occurs minutes after the initial injury and up to 48 hours later, making it very important to pay attention to how you are feeling after a head injury occurs. Diagnosis is critical.

At Synergy Health and Wellness Centre, we have an Athletic Therapist (Alex Barton) and a Craniosacral Therapist (Liw Bringelson) who bring skills and experience to assist in concussion and post-concussion syndrome management.

For more information about how we can help you or to book an appointment please email (info@synergywellnesscentre.com) or call (705) 446-5828.